Two plays later, the Bengals capitalized on the turnover with a 4-yard touchdown run by
BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

So instead of two defensive scores, Cincinnati settled for one, which left Dunlap hearing
good-natured ribbing from his teammates. “I got a lot of it,” he said, “because I’m always talking
crap to them.”

Disaster free

Unlike the previous week in a 30-20 loss at Pittsburgh, the Bengals didn’t suffer any mishaps on
punt plays yesterday despite having to use a punter they had signed only five days earlier.

Free agent Shawn Powell, 25, was signed by Cincinnati as emergency punter and holder in place of
an injured Kevin Huber.

Powell had been out of the NFL and home in Knoxville, Tenn. The second-year player out of
Florida State had been cut by the Buffalo Bills following a poor performance in a game at Cleveland
on Oct. 3.

Powell punted four times yesterday for a net average of 34.5 yards.

“Shawn did what he needed to do today,” Lewis said.

Huber’s net punting average of 40.5 yards was eighth-best in the NFL when he was lost for the
season after suffering a broken jaw and broken bone in his neck on a hit by Pittsburgh’s Terence
Garvin. The NFL fined Garvin, a rookie linebacker, $25,000 for an illegal helmet hit on a
defenseless player.

The injury to Huber occurred on a block as Antonio Brown returned a punt 67 yards for a
Pittsburgh touchdown.

Vikings cornerback Marcus Sherels entered yesterday’s game with the NFL’s third-best punt return
average. He returned only one of Powell’s punts and gained 22 yards.

Cincinnati’s kickoff coverage proved to be poor yesterday, allowing 26.3 yards on six returns.
Minnesota’s Cordarrelle Patterson took the game’s opening kick for 48 yards and averaged 35.8 yards
on his four returns.

“We’ve definitely got to play better on special teams,” said Adam Jones, a member of Cincinnati’s
coverage units. “They had too many yards this game.”

By the numbers

The four touchdown passes thrown by Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton gave him a career-high 31
this season. He’s one short of Carson Palmer’s team record, set in 2005. … Receiver A. J. Green
enters the regular-season finale with 1,365 receiving . He is 75 yards short of Chad Johnson’s team
record, set in the 2007 season. … Lewis is 16-7 at home in December, including 12-3 since 2007. …
Dalton is 9-5 in December games. … Cincinnati is 4-0 this season when playing at home following a
road loss.